Customer Reviews

Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Claw Rescue Track Set

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This toy is a track with a battery driven motor that releases a car which you must grab with a plastic claw to save from the incinerator.


The plastic claw doesn't really grab the car off the track unless you use your hand to close it.
You would think you could lower the claw which would then automatically grasp the car. Nope.

Opening it requires some force (beyond that of my 4 year old son) and he quickly lost interest in it after 5 minutes.

I tried to get my 6 year old son to play with it, but he said it was "too boring."

Bottom line:
Save your money and don't buy this. The claw doesn't pick up the car like you would want it too.

I purchased this for my 2 year old son 3 days ago.He LOVES toy story and hot wheels, so this was perfect!! As the previous reviewer stated the claw does not close down around by the car on it's own, you need to do that manually, BUT it is NOT hard at ALL to wind up and release the car from the claw into the other track. My 2 year old has no issues with doing it manually and then releasing it. This toy is a huge hit, I would recommend to any toy story /hot wheels fans!! We will be purchasing more cars to go with it also! LOVE IT!!

This was purchased as a gift for my son who enjoys building things and race tracks. Per his preference, this was the last such toy he got for Christmas that we assembled.

I like that the back of the box depicts exactly what you get (even if the front plays it up a bit too much).

It assembles in 5 minutes easily enough, though I found that looking at the picture on the box was easier than interpreting the b/w pictures in the instructions.
The pieces seem durable enough to last through the abuse of small children.

I suppose the appeal of this toy is to have multiple cars going at once so there is some challenge to it; otherwise it is very repetitive and not likely to hold interest for very long. Though you'd need one person to continually reload the cars while the other person operates the claw. Unfortunately, the set comes with only one car. The box indicates "not for use with some hot wheels vehicles", and I don't exactly know which ones those are, but my guess is that unless you use the cars specially designed for the track (shown on the box), you won't have much success with the claw. The claw needs to hit the roof of the car so it closes around the car.

Despite my initial reaction that the claw would never work, I was able to get the claw to pick up the car without helping it (as other reviews indicated) by letting go of the claw so it drops as far and as forcefully as it can. However, when it came to dropping the car in the chute, which requires hoisting the claw up so it automatically opens, the car never once landed so that it could run down the chute. Most of the time it landed on its roof, and sometimes it landed sideways.

I found the sound effects to be slightly on the loud side (my hearing is definitely not what it used to be), and there is no volume control.

All in all, I can see this being fun for very young children at the lower end of the target age group. I think a 7+ year old may find this boring pretty quickly.

Ok. I read all the negative reviews before buying this, so I thought I knew what to expect, but the price was good, so I took a chance. That was last Christmas.

Now, a year later, this toy is still out on the living room floor, and we play with it often. I have bought our son tons of toys and while many have broken or have gotten donated, this one has survived. I think it deserves a positive review here on Amazon.

The claw does pick up the cars, but you have to crank it up until it opens, then drop the claw fast. It clamps around the car and then you use the crank to pick it up. Tis can be done, but you must develop the skill.

Our son likes to take this toy apart so i often find myself having to re-assemble it after he has gone to bed, but it teaches him how things work, so I don't mind it.

Also, the box looks exciting, so it made a good gift, FYI.

I think the previous reviewers either haven't tried out the toy properly or have faulty versions. The claw does actually work in a somewhat automatic fashion.
With the claw open, you have to release it from it's highest point onto the car as it passes below and it will clamp onto the car if dropped at the right time (getting the timing
right is part of the fun and skill I presume). Once the car has been grabbed, you wind the claw up, and with the other control, move the claw over the escape ramp. Once over the ramp,
wind the wheel up fully and the clamp will open, releasing the car. Does require a little bit of force and maybe a bit tricky for 4 year olds and i'm sure the kids would get the idea eventually.
Now the claw is open ready to be dropped onto the next car to be saved from incineration.
My 5 year old enjoys playing with it. Must admit, i've had some fun with it myself!
Is it a but of fun - sure.
Educational - not really although could help with judgement and timing skills.
Durable - haven't used it enough to judge that. Time will tell how well the cord stands up to winding up firmly.
Overall - as much fun as any other toy really.

As the previous two reviewers who gave this toy two stars said, ths claw doesn't work unless you close it on the car manually, and even when you do, sometimes it doesn't clamp on it completely to get it to the rescue shoot. Half the time the car falls out. I myself have to use a good amount of force to release the car. My four-year-old son is pretty strong, and he can barely get it to open. I don't think anyone purchasing this toy would expect you to need to use your hands to make the claw close. We thought the most fun of it would be to press a button to make the claw close in on a car...or at least close when it comes in contact with something (which actually it almost does. Maybe that was the intent and there was simply an engineering flaw).

I would not buy this toy if I could do it all over, and instead get something that is more fun. My son is entertained by it for a few minutes at a time, so that's all that really matters. But from a parent's perpective, and a big kid who loves toys as much as my children, I'm disappointed.

I have to change my review. My son loves this toy. The claw does not work and I had to just take it off because it gets in the way and he gets frustrated. My son is 2 and loves his matchbox cars. It is a bit pricey and I got this on sale for $13, it is worth $13 but I would pay much more.